Can Tho in dire need of international shipping routes A vessel heads for Tan Cang-Cai Cui Port in Can Tho City Although the Government has allowed Can Tho City to expand its logistics center to 242 hectares from the current 75 hectares, the center cannot develop without international shipping routes allowing the city to directly ship goods abroad, said Nguyen Minh Toai, director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade. At a seminar on development of Can Tho City’s logistics network by 2020, with a vision to 2030, in the city today, February 20, Toai said that Can Tho needs to launch shipping routes through Quan Chanh Bo Canal and Dinh An Estuary to develop a modern logistics center in the city. It costs US$10 to transport each container of goods from Can Tho to Cat Lai Port in HCMC or to Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, he said, and the cost is even higher if shipping containers are carried further away. If goods are directly shipped from the … [Read more...] about BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 22/2
Vietcombank ho chi minh city branch
Bank services falter, overwhelmed by Tet demand
Internet banking, touted by many banks as a solution for high money demand during the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet), repeatedly showed errors on Friday, the last working day of the old Lunar Year. Tu, a resident of Hanoi’s Hoang Mai District, had to wait from 3 p.m. till 9 p.m. for her online transaction to be successful, as opposed to less than five minutes on a normal day. "It’s a struggle to transfer money online these days. The system keeps saying it is overload, and even informed me that my account has zero Vietnamese dong," she said. Hoang of Thanh Xuan District had to repeat his transaction many times. "I needed to transfer VND3 million ($129.17) but it didn’t go through the whole afternoon." Internet banking of Techcombank, Vietcombank and Agribank was repeatedly showing errors. Some customers got to the last step of entering the one-time password (OTP), but transactions failed even at that stage. Many customers also had trouble just … [Read more...] about Bank services falter, overwhelmed by Tet demand
BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 22/1
EVFTA opens new era in Vietnam-EU trade ties: Italian experts The factory of the Far Eastern New Apparel Vietnam company in Bac Dong Phu Industrial Park, Binh Phuoc province The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is hoped to usher in a new period in promoting cooperation and mutual economic development between the two sides as it comes into effect in mid-2019, according to Italian experts. In a recent interview granted to Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in Italy, Vietnam’s Honorary Consul in Turin Sandra Scagliotti and Chairman of the Italy-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce Fulvio Albano stressed that the new-generation agreement may mark the beginning of a new era in trade relations between Vietnam and the EU. Negotiations and the legal review have been completed for both the free trade agreement and the one on investment protection. The EVFTA process is now awaiting the Council of Europe and the European Parliament to sign and ratify it. The agreement … [Read more...] about BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 22/1
Banks report solid profits, employees hopeful of high bonuses
The banking sector’s overall profit before tax increased by 40 percent year-on-year, according to the National Financial Supervisory Commission. Vietcombank, the largest bank by market capitalization, said in a recent report that its consolidated pre-tax profit was up 62 percent to VND18.3 trillion ($789.55 million). TPBank said pre-tax profit doubled to VND2.26 trillion ($97.5 million), exceeding its target of VND2.2 trillion ($94.93 million). The lender’s profit has almost quadrupled against 2015. Sacombank’s profit before tax of VND2.2 trillion ($94.93 million) was 20 percent higher than its target. Bank employees are thrilled by the performance ahead of Tet, Vietnam’s Lunar New Year, which falls on February 5 this year. Mai, a Sacombank worker who asked to be identified only by her given name, said: "Our bank’s profit is a few times that of 2017, so we hope to have a higher bonus." Minh Nhat of Orient Commercial Bank, said his bank determines Tet … [Read more...] about Banks report solid profits, employees hopeful of high bonuses
Saigon police hunt two armed bank robbers
By Quoc Thang  December 8, 2018 | 03:05 pm GMT+7 Police inspect a VietABank branch in HCMC after a man escaped with VND1 billion Friday. Photo by VnExpress/Tran Duy Two armed man robbed VND1 billion ($42,900) from a bank in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Thanh District Friday, police say. Cameras caught a man barging into a branch of the VietABank on Dinh Tien Hoang Street and threatened a security guard, three employees and a customer with an unidentified gun. He forced employees to put VND1 billion ($43,000) in cash into a bag, before spraying tear gas and escaping on a motorbike. The robbery lasted three minutes. Camera footage shows the man was approximately 1.7 meters tall, wore jeans, a red and white helmet, gray-white sport sneakers and a mask. His motorbike was a brown Honda Dream. No one was hurt in the incident, said Tran Tien Dung, deputy director of VietABank, who also said there were two men involved in the robbery. Witnesses have also reported … [Read more...] about Saigon police hunt two armed bank robbers